Happy Independence Day!
by Moonrise31
Summary: HID! The Stoll brothers and Nico have a little hidden fireworks problem. But then, Travis and Connor stole the fireworks in the first place...oh well! Read and Review! This story is set during the Titan's Curse.


**A/N: Happy Fourth of July! Independence day isn't complete without fireworks! This story may not be as funny as the others, but I think it actually has a little meaning to it :) Enjoy! **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing of this story except for the insult at the end!**

Nico eagerly awaited the day his sister and the others would come back from their quest. He was confident that they would make it back okay; after all, Percy had promised that he'd take care of Bianca.

Camp Half-Blood was a fun place to be, though Nico would much rather play with his Mythomagic cards than learn archery or sword fighting.

Since he hadn't been claimed yet, Nico stayed in the Hermes cabin. The only thing he didn't like about it was that his cards and figurines kept mysteriously disappearing. Sometimes he found some, but his Hestia card was still missing, along with his manticore statue.

Today, Nico was excited because he'd heard that camp had awesome fireworks for Independence Day. He'd even seen Beckendorf from the Hephaestus cabin preparing the rockets for that evening.

Nico was walking to archery when he glimpsed the Stoll brothers sneaking out back behind the Hermes cabin to the dock. Curious, the young boy followed at a distance.

Travis and Connor went a little ways into the woods by Long Island Sound and then began unloading their packages. Nico recognized the flares that Beckendorf had been working on that morning.

He frowned. "Guys, what are you doing?"

The twins looked up in surprise as Nico caught up with them. "Well," Travis grinned mischievously.

"We sorta 'borrowed' the fireworks from Beckendorf," Connor continued, an equally impish smirk on his face.

"You mean you stole them." Nico put it bluntly. Not that he was surprised. He thought he saw his missing figurine poking out of Travis' back pocket.

"Aw, we're just gonna spice 'em up a bit," Travis promised, opening one package.

"Yeah. We'll make the fireworks ten times better than usual," Connor picked up a rocket.

"How're you going to do that?" Nico asked. "Only Beckendorf knows how to program the rockets to create figures and fight scenes and stuff. He tried to teach me, but I didn't get it."

Travis smiled. "But _we _did. We were watching from the bushes."

Nico remembered that the time Beckendorf had been explaining the fireworks to him was the last time he'd seen his manticore.

Then he brightened. "Hey, can I help you guys? I have ideas for some awesome battles and stuff."

Connor rubbed his chin. "I guess. We gotta keep you here with us anyways, so you don't squeal or something."

Nico looked hurt. "I wouldn't tell anyone, anyway. No one ever talks to me, except Beckendorf."

"But we don't want him knowing, now do we?" Travis pointed out. "Alright, let's hear your ideas."

The twins had to agree that Nico's suggestions were much better than what they could have come up with. In a few hours, the brothers had wired the fireworks to their liking.

"Great job, team!" Travis beamed, slapping Nico on the back. It was a little too hard, though, and caused Nico to lunge forward. He grabbed onto Travis for support, and Connor helped him up.

"Sorry about that," Connor helped Nico to his feet. "We're going to do a bit of canoeing. You want to come with?"

"Sure," Nico smiled. He followed the two brothers, and glowed inside. He had a feeling Travis and Connor wanted to have him along just because, not to keep him from telling Beckendorf. Nico grinned further when he opened his palm, his retrieved manticore statue shining in his hand.

_some hours later_

"OKAY! WHICH ONE OF YOU MISERABLE MANGY MUTTS SWIPED OUR FIREWORKS?" Travis bellowed, crashing into the Hermes cabin. His cabin mates looked at him quizzically.

Connor and Nico followed, closing the door gingerly behind them. "Need new hinges," Connor mouthed to his companion. Nico took one glance at the smashed metal and wondered how mad Travis could get about someone taking their stolen fireworks.

A thorough search of the cabin proved fruitless. Once they learned of the twins' deed, a few slapped them on the back and congratulated them. Most had wondered why Beckendorf had been storming around, looking ready to rip out someone's throat. Even Nico got a few approving nods.

The Stoll brothers walked out of the cabin, dejected. Only Nico was in high spirits, having recovered his Hestia card and another recently taken Pegasus card from under someone's bed.

Evening fell and the fireworks still weren't found. Travis sighed. "Oh well. The fireworks are programmed to go off during dinner. We'll find out who took them, then."

But the rockets didn't fire after the food offerings were made to the gods. They didn't flare up during dinner at all. The twins and Nico were worried. Was all their hard work going to go to waste?

Suddenly, a spark flashed over the dark water in Long Island Sound and exploded in an array of bright colors. "Darn naiads, they're the ones who took our fireworks!" Travis exploded.

"At least they were waterproof," Connor mused.

The campers oohed and aahed while the Hermes cabin gave the twins and Nico more slaps and high fives. Beckendorf eyed them suspiciously, but couldn't resist the fight between a manticore and Artemis, golden spikes and silver arrows whizzing viciously across the sky.

Travis and Connor congratulated one another, grinning widely. Travis turned toward Nico. "Great job, dude! They're lovin' it."

But Nico was staring at something in the sky. A ripple of laughter burst into a waterfall of snickers and snorts all around the three.

The twins slowly turned to look up at the source of amusement. In big blue letters, "TRAVIS AND CONNOR STINK LIKE ROTTING FISH AND WHALE BREATH" flashed across the night sky.

Travis cursed. "They rewired 'HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!'!"

Connor scratched his head. "You gotta admire their color choice, though."

Nico looked at the twins, puzzled. "Why'd they do that?"

Travis cleared his throat. "We may have had some—uh—problems with the naiads before."

Nico's confused expression slowly turned into a small smile. "Hey, does anyone know what whale breath smells like?"

**Well, you know what I'm going to say here...but just in case...REVIEW! PLEASE! I'M BEGGING YOU! (well, not really)**


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